Alex Wigglesworth

Philly.com

A Mays Landing, N.J. teen is accused of burglarizing more than a dozen cars in less than three weeks.

Investigators on Jan. 12 began receiving numerous reports of burglaries to vehicles that were unlocked and parked in the area during overnight hours, according to a news release from the Township of Hamilton Police Department.

A break in the case came this past Wednesday, when police probing the 13th such burglary found footprints at the scene.

Officers followed the prints to a nearby home, where they encountered the 16-year-old suspect.

He confessed to the break-in and was taken into custody, police said.

The teen later told investigators he had burglarized about three vehicles each week since being taken off electronically monitored home detention in early January, according to authorities.

Police did not disclose why the suspect, whose identity was not released due to his age, was initially serving the house arrest sentence.

He was jailed in the Harborfields Juvenile Detention Center on multiple counts of burglary and theft.

Some of the stolen items were recovered and returned to the victims, police said.